The Marxist-Leninist Daily

Today, the Quebec student associations began a fourth day of negotiations with the Charest government. Following the third day of negotiations, Quebec Federation of University Students (FEUQ) President Martine Desjardins stated, "If the government took the time to look at the proposals made [Tuesday], it is very possible that an agreement will be reached." However, she added, negotiations could carry on for some time. "After 16 weeks of strikes, more than 108 days, let's take the time to do things right. We'll be sleeping in Quebec City again tonight," she said. She pointed out that she felt "no pressure" from the government to come to a resolution that evening, in time for a social event Premier Jean Charest convoked for all his MNAs.

The rumour that the government put forward an offer to reduce the tuition fee increase by $35, bringing the increase to $219 from $254 has been confirmed. The government wants to offset the reduction by lowering the tax credit applied to tuition fees.

"The response to the $35 was unanimous. It was put on the table and automatically rejected by the student associations," said Desjardins.

She revealed that Education Minister Michelle Courchesne has agreed to further reduce the tuition fee increase. "For our part we refused and we remained at the table to discuss; we'll be going back. I think both sides are ready to work," she said. Quebec Federation of College Students (FECQ) President Leo Bureau-Blouin said, "We are not in the $35 range anymore."

The student leaders have put forward a counter-offer and submitted other proposals. "New elements were brought [to the table] [Tuesday] night. Those elements surely put negotiations on hold yesterday. I imagine that the government worked on this offer earlier this morning. And now, we're starting from there," said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson for the Broad Coalition for Student Union Solidarity (CLASSE).

FEUQ President Desjardins said she still had "dozens" of solutions to submit. As for the president of the FECQ, Bureau-Blouin said the associations are looking at "new scenarios." More proposals are expected. He reiterated that any solution must cover the tuition increase, the "peripheral issues" -- for example university management -- and the Special Law. The student leaders are asking for at least one portion of the law to be suspended.

"We are confident that the negotiation process can lead to a satisfying offer. We are hoping for a complete solution, we don't just want to talk about tuition fees. We want a political solution to a conflict which has already gone on too long," said the secretary of the Quebec Student Roundtable (TaCEQ), Paul-Émile Auger.

Speaking to journalists, Education Minister Michelle Courchesne said she "remains in the same mode of wanting to find solutions." "I can tell you we are very determined here," she said. She didn't want to speak on the compromises the government is willing to make. "We are working very hard. I will not discuss any proposals with you."

In the morning, Finance Minister Raymond Bachand repeated that a reduction to the increase as the students demand is possible only if it is of "zero cost" to taxpayers and public finances. It is wrong to conclude that the government "folded" on this issue, he added.

This logic implies that the satisfaction of the students' just demands will be to the detriment of the whole society. It is part of the anti-social outlook that permeates all of the Liberal government's policies where education, health care and social programs are considered a cost and not an investment that will open the path to society's progress to recognize the rights of all.

Mass Arrest after First Day of Negotiations

On May 28, after a peaceful demonstration in the streets of Quebec City, 200 protestors entered the building where the student associations in negotiations with the government to express their support. A few minutes after their arrival, the police surrounded and proceed to arrest every demonstrator inside including two negotiators for the Broad Coalition for Student Union Solidarity (CLASSE) -- a total of 84 people. The two CLASSE negotiators were invited by security guards into the building to avoid the mass arrest but refused, saying that either they would be arrested with everyone else or no one would be arrested. Everyone was arrested under section 500.1 of the Highway Safety Code and are to be fined up to $500. They were taken away on Quebec City Transit buses and released a short while later.

Student leaders unanimously condemned the arrests. Martine Desjardins, President of the Quebec Federation of University Students said: "Was this planned? Was this an act to put pressure on the negotiations? We think it's deplorable."

Student Leader Pleads Not Guilty to
Contempt of Court Charge

On May 29, co-spokesperson of the Broad Coalition for Student Union Solidarity (CLASSE) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois appeared in court for his contempt of court charge, to which he pled not guilty.

The charge is related to an interview broadcast on Radio-Canada on May 13 in which Nadeau-Dubois said it was legitimate for students to hold pickets to enforce their strike vote, and consequently, block those who had obtained court injunctions against the pickets from entering classes.

Maxime Martel-Roy, lawyer for Laval University student Jean-François Morasse who filed the complaint, said he is seeking a prison sentence if Nadeau-Dubois is found guilty. The maximum sentence is one year in prison. He will be tried on September 27 and 28.

"The only thing I can say is that I find it pretty sad that we've reached the level of tension where a student wants to put another student in jail," Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said outside the court.

Quebec Jurists Demonstrate to Oppose Special Law

Hundreds of Quebec jurists took to the streets of Montreal on Monday, May 28, to express their rejection of the Special Law as officers of the court and experts of law. In a statement released announcing their action, the lawyers wrote in part:

"From the Montreal Courthouse [we are making a] silent march to Émilie-Gamelin Park. We will be dressed in our very best to remind everyone of the inherent dignity of our profession and our system of justice based on the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms.

"Our march is intended to express our dismay at the adoption of a special law that we consider to be disproportionate interference with freedom of expression, association and peaceful protest. We also wish to express our concern at the loss of trust (predictable) of a growing number of citizens in our judicial institutions following the adoption of this Act.

"We are lawyers: we intend to meet the requirements of applicable laws. Our itinerary was presented to the Montreal Police Department more than eight hours in advance.

"We are officers of the court: some of us will be at the forefront of the battle to invalidate the provisions of the Act that appear incompatible with our Constitution and our Charter of Rights. We believe this will help to restore citizens' shaken confidence in the judicial institutions."

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Marylène Robitaille, one of the organizers of the action, said it was important for lawyers to express their concern. She also noted that that it is particularly "problematic" that the law obliges everyone to inform of any event of 50 or more people eight hours in advance, which renders "spontaneous demonstrations" illegal.

Another lawyer, Rémi Bourget, elaborated on this point: "Imagine the drumming that happens on Mount Royal -- it's technically illegal. The busking at the Old Port -- also technically illegal. When the Italian or the Portuguese soccer teams win at the European Cup and people spontaneously take to the streets, that too is illegal. So [the Special Law] really attacks the rights of citizens."

The lawyers are also concerned about how the Special Law makes associations responsible for any of their members "who may be violating the law, a provision is not without consequences," namely that the government can "deprive them of dues, suspend the association, remove office equipment," Robitaille said. "We're talking about groups that represent their members, but that doesn't mean they control them," she added, noting that the same provision also applies to workers' unions.

Research Institute Exposes Government's
Bursaries and Loans Schemes

Researchers with the Institute of Research and Socio-Economic Information (IRIS) have exposed how the Charest government's claim schemes for bursaries and loans not only fail to offset the tuition increase but in fact intensify the privatization of post-secondary education in Quebec.

Marc Daoud explains in an article entitled "Parent-Students and the Hike" the Institute of Research and Socio-Economic Information (IRIS) exposes the Charest government's claim that tuition increases are offset by an equivalent increase in bursaries for low-income students. The measure is being pushed as a "fair" means to assist low-income students and thus have students capitulate to the tuition fee hikes.

However, Daoud points out that the arrangement actually can seriously penalize low-income students. Each student that receives a bursary must declare it as income for tax purposes, although the bursary is tax-free. However, the increase in total income caused by the bursary affects calculations for other benefits that students receive. Daoud notes that for students living with their parents, the impact is minimal. "But for students living as a couple with children, the situation can get very difficult," he writes.

"Take, for example, a student living with two young children and a spouse earning $30,000 ($15 per hour). The student in question receives an $8,000 grant. The two children go to unsubsidized daycare and therefore are entitled to a tax credit for childcare services. The following table describes the impact of the grant payment on tax benefits:

"Through this taxation trickery, the government will have already recovered $1,800 of the $8000 grant it issued to the parent-student, or 22 per cent of the grant. In effect, the work premium, the solidarity credit as well as the childcare tax credit are all reduced," the article points out.

In the above example above, a student would receive a $9,778 grant, but the government would recoup $2,440 of the grant by reducing that student's tax credits, writes Daoud.

"It is therefore false to claim, as some do, that tuition increases would be fully offset by increased bursaries for everyone who receives greater bursaries," the article concludes.[1]

In a similar vein, IRIS researchers Eric Martin and Simon Tremblay-Pepin point out that these financial aid and loan schemes for students accompanying the tuition increases have another purpose besides their supposed aim of equalizing access to education. They are also instruments of the privatization of the financing and purpose of public institutions of learning. This transformation is part of a strategy to revive the economy that has come to depend on the growth of personal debt and on the fixation with offering training for the "human capital," (highly skilled labour) demanded by businesses. This operation, which comes at a time of structural crisis in advanced economies, risks introducing a new "speculative bubble" of student indebtedness where students and households will pay the price, they write.[2]

The work of these researchers indicates that only is the government diverting the social wealth produced by Quebeckers into private hands, depriving the education system of funding, but that its schemes to supposedly help students overcome its tuition increases are a means to skin the cat twice and thrice, by further indebting students to private banks and making them part of a broader scheme to increase private control over post-secondary education. This is totally against the duty of governments to ensure that the public interest is upheld and the people's well-being is provided with a guarantee.

1. Marc Daoud, "Les parents-étudiants et la hausse," IRIS, May 25, 2012.
2. Eric Martin and Simon Tremblay-Pepin, "L'endettement étudiant: une bulle spéculative?" IRIS, March 27, 2012.

Charest's Neoliberal Argument

Charest frames the anti-social offensive to pay the rich as a matter of survival for the Quebec nation. His government's schemes to pay the rich are a matter of the existence and survival of the Quebec nation, he says. In this way, he called the decision to raise the tuition fees an "acte fondateur" -- a foundational act -- for Quebec without which this small nation of only 8 million people could not survive in North America.

The fee hike is part of an "acte fondateur," he claims, because Quebec needs an education system which is world class. According to his self-serving argument, a Quebec where the tuition fees are low will not attract capital and cannot attract the best brains in the world because it won't be able to pay for them and thus it won't be considered "world class."

Charest presents liberalized tuition fees as a signal given by Quebec to the world that Quebec is the place for foreign capital to invest. If he does not do this, Quebec has "no appeal," he argues.

In this way, the Harper and Charest and other provincial governments are not just permitting the plunder of the natural resources and forcing down the remuneration paid to workers. They are putting everything at the disposal of the global monopolies and this is presented as a "foundational act" -- a matter of prosperity and therefore national security, i.e., the new reason of state. This self-serving and unprincipled logic underpins the attempts to insinuate that various forces and organizations which fight for the rights of their constituents, pose a danger to the country's interests and security. It is directed against those who objectively oppose the neoliberal agenda specifically, which is why the Charest government has tried to peg the Broad Coalition of Student Union Solidarity (CLASSE) as an organization to be slandered and criminalized.

Stephen Harper and his Ministers frame the same arguments in the language of Canada becoming a major power in the world while Charest frames it in the language of the survival of the small nation of Quebec.

Using Tuition Increases to Pay the Rich

In addition to forcing Quebec students to hand over hundreds of millions in interest payments to the banks, the Charest government's "50 cents a day" argument also seeks to hide another scheme to pay the rich. Tuition increases free up hundreds of millions which the government diverts education funding to pay the rich in other ways.

The $1,778 more which each student will pay in tuition becomes increased revenue for universities. The experience in Ontario has been that in the name of eliminating the debt and deficit, governments cut back the amount they transfer to universities and this is replaced with increased tuition. Forcing individual students to fund a greater proportion of post-secondary education system "frees up" hundreds of millions of dollars of public monies to use in pay-the-rich schemes: paying interest on the provincial debt to the banks, tax cuts for the monopolies, etc. They may even use it to claim they have found savings and have a surplus just before an election! You never know what kind of treachery is in store when private interests, not social responsibility, guide such decisions.

This is just another reason why the students in Quebec are defending the public interest with their opposition to tuition increases and should be fully supported.

Savings from Open-Source Software

In an May 27 open letter to Education Minister and Chair of the Treasury Board Michelle Courchesne, the Professional Association of Open-Source Software Companies (APELL), the Quebec Federation of Open-Source Industries and Communities (FQCIL) and FACIL, for the Collective Appropriation of Free Software suggest that using open-source software (OSS) in Quebec could reduce the tuition increase by more than 50 percent.

Following the government's decision in March to migrate 738,000 government workstations to Windows 7 at a cost of $ 1.4 billion, the three associations point out that the in the education sector alone, the estimated cost to migrate 500,000 desktops using proprietary software is $904 million.

The three associations, experts in information technology and communications, argue that the use of free software for the migration project would save more than $450 million and would reduce the tuition increase by more than 50 percent.

"The use of OSS in the education sector would be not only economically efficient, but would extend a hand to future generations. The values held by open source software are based on freedom, work, transparency, sharing and collaboration. Curiously enough, they coincide with the values held by the student movement and Quebec society," says Cyrille Béraud, FQCIL President.

"This project may be able to help resolve the current conflict. It will help Quebec to escape the clutches of the multinationals on our information-technology systems. To build a modern and open state of the future begins with education. Free software in education will give future generations the tools to build tomorrow's prosperity," says Daniel Pascot, FACIL President.

Open Letter to Michelle Courchesne

At the end of March, while the student movement against increased tuition fees was taking off, your government approved a comprehensive plan to migrate all government workstations and those of health care and education agencies to the proprietary software of the multinational Microsoft (Windows 7/Office 2010).

The cost of this migration has been evaluated by your services at $1.4 billion. It covers 738,000 workstations of which nearly 500,000 workstations are for the education sector.

The cost of this project for the education sector alone is estimated at $904 million.

The additional revenues provided by the tuition fee increase for the 2012-2017 period total $964 million.

Thus, in fact, increased tuition fees for the 2012-2017 period will cover mainly expenses -- recurrent and without added value -- in migration costs and software licenses, which are imposed on you by a foreign multinational.

Yet, essentially, the necessary software for workstations, in the collaboration and, more generally, education of students from primary, secondary, CEGEP and universities are available free on the Internet: they are free software.

We, heads of companies specialized in free software, experts and professionals of new information technologies and communications, affirm that the use of OSS in the education sector, instead of proprietary software, would allow for savings of over $450 million and would cover half of the tuition fee increase.

We not only want to say that the use of free software is perfectly suited to the context of education, but it is also desirable since the values of sharing, community, ethics and transparency specific to open source software are also those that our education system wishes to convey.

Free software will give new generations the tools to shape and build the Quebec of tomorrow. They allow them to appropriate modernization and to build a freer, fairer and more prosperous Quebec.

Free software will liberate Quebec from the control exerted by the multinationals on our information technology systems, strengthen the expertise and the ability to export of Quebec companies, and help build the economy of the future: the knowledge-based economy.

The future of our culture, arts, knowledge, the vitality of our language will be determined by our ability to collectively take ownership of new information technologies and communications. This begins with education.

Freedom, work, collaboration, sharing and transparency are the values at the heart of the development of free software in the world.

Without presuming to think that this proposal could solve the current crisis that affects Quebec, we remain convinced that a proposed 50 per cent reduction of increased tuition fees could contribute to its resolution.

APELL, Professional Association of Open-Source Software Businesses, Benoît des Ligneris, Ph. D., President

FQCIL, Quebec Federation of Open-Source Industries and Communities , Cyrille Béraud, President

Widespread Mass Actions Continue

In more and more cities, town and villages across Quebec the casseroles ring out at every night at 8:00 pm. In Montreal and around the island, rallies are held in Repentigny, La Prairie, Beloeil, Longueil, Laval and elsewhere. Across the province the concert of casseroles can be heard from Matane to Gatineau, and throughout Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Sept-Iles.

Cross-Canada Demonstrations

Ontario

March from Ottawa to Gatineau

On Tuesday, May 29, more than 1,200 people of all ages, including students, youth, workers and families marched from Ottawa to Gatineau in support of the Quebec students and to condemn the Special Law. The demonstration was organized by the University of Ottawa Student Federation (FEUO), the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Canadian Autoworkers (CAW). The protestors crossed the Alexandra Bridge in defiance of the Special Law, which they underscored with chants such as "We Are More than 50!" and "Down with the Special Law!" In front of the Gatineau courthouse, speakers condemned the Special Law.

Toronto; Hamilton; Windsor

Sudbury

"While you're asking us why we're protesting, the rest of the world is asking why you've let this go on so long!

On May 25, more than thirty Sudbury students, anti-poverty activists and workers took a bold stand in support of Quebec students and against the Charest Liberals' war measure, Bill 78. The action began with a 5 pm rally at Memorial Park organized by the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (SCAP) and addressed by their representatives and by the Graduate Students Association (GSA) of Laurentian University. Members of CUPE, the Ontario Public Services Union (OPSEU), PSAC and Canadian Auto Workers/Mine Mill also took part. Leaflets providing information about the struggle of the Quebec students and Bill 78 were handed out to passers-by. Another action is planned for this Friday, June 4, commencing in front of the Sudbury Arena on Elgin Street at 4 pm.

Manitoba

Winnipeg

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon

British Columbia

Vancouver

Comox

On Saturday, May 26, activists responded to the call of the Comox Valley Peace Group to rally in support of Quebec students and all affected by the Charest government's war measure, Bill 78.

Speakers from the Comox Valley Peace Group, the Council of Canadians, the North Island Compassion Club and the Marxist-Leninist Party expressed their support for the legitimate demands of Quebec students for a political solution to the conflict between the students and the government over tuition fee increases. They related what is taking place in Quebec to the criminalization across Canada of virtually anyone who raises their voice against the neoliberal agenda, including the federal government's attacks on the rights of the workers at Air Canada, Canada Post and now CP Rail, as well as the situation facing BC teachers and other public sector workers. Participants pledged to do their part to counter the disinformation of the monopoly media about the unfolding events in Quebec.

Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council Resolution
in Support of Quebec Students

The following resolution was passed at the monthly meeting of the Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council (CRCDLC) on May 28:

"Whereas Quebec students are engaged in a fight with the Charest government against tuition fee increases and to defend their right to education;

"And whereas the Charest government, having refused to negotiate with the students, has passed legislation, Bill 78, which suspends civil liberties in Quebec and criminalizes the students and everyone who assists them;

"And whereas the movement in Quebec against the dictatorial actions of the Charest government involves the students, workers from all sectors, young and old who have mobilized in unprecedented numbers in defiance of this unjust law;

"Be it resolved that the Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council stands with the students and workers of Quebec in the fight against the tuition fee hikes and against the suspension of civil liberties of everyone in Quebec and calls on all affiliates to do the same;

"And be it further resolved that this message of support and solidarity be communicated to the student centrals, FECQ , FEUQ, CLASSE and the trade union centrals, CSN, CSQ and FTQ."

Yukon Territory

Dawson City

(Photos: LML, J.S. Boone, D. Soberal, A. Martin, Shay Na, W. Roe, V. Martin, MediaCoop)

Negotiations Continue While Students and Supporters Continue to Oppose of Special Law

Negotiations Continue While Students and Supporters Continue to Oppose Special Law

Mass Arrest after First Day of Negotiations

Student Leader Pleads Not Guilty to
Contempt of Court Charge

Quebec Jurists Demonstrate to Oppose Special Law

Research Institute Exposes Government's
Bursaries and Loans Schemes

Charest's Neoliberal Argument

Using Tuition Increases to Pay the Rich

Savings from Open-Source Software

Open Letter to Michelle Courchesne

Widespread Mass Actions Continue

Cross-Canada Demonstrations

Comox

Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council Resolution
in Support of Quebec Students

Coming Events

Negotiations Continue While Students and Supporters Continue to Oppose of Special Law

Negotiations Continue While Students and Supporters Continue to Oppose Special Law

Mass Arrest after First Day of Negotiations

Student Leader Pleads Not Guilty to Contempt of Court Charge

Quebec Jurists Demonstrate to Oppose Special Law

Research Institute Exposes Government's Bursaries and Loans Schemes

Charest's Neoliberal Argument

Using Tuition Increases to Pay the Rich

Savings from Open-Source Software

Open Letter to Michelle Courchesne

Widespread Mass Actions Continue

Cross-Canada Demonstrations

Comox

Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council Resolution in Support of Quebec Students

Coming Events

Student Leader Pleads Not Guilty to
Contempt of Court Charge

Research Institute Exposes Government's
Bursaries and Loans Schemes

Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council Resolution
in Support of Quebec Students